“For this university to advocate for indigenous knowing and then to also be supporting indirectly an industry that is contributing to the destruction of their land, it’s such a contradiction and it’s pretty dishonest,” she said.

Students call for democracy

Divest MTA and its supporters are also calling for changes in the way the university is governed by its Board of Regents.

Alex Lepianka, who served as a student representative on the Board’s Responsible Investment Committee, said advocates for change got nowhere. He added that the Board relies too heavily on the university administration which has consistently opposed shifting investments out of fossil fuels.

“Part of the problem is the administration itself. Its convictions that this cannot be done is part of the reason why it hasn’t been done,” Lepianka said.

“Where a school like Laval has made the commitment to divest, to figure out how divestment would be possible, we see the exact opposite effort being made on the part of the Mt. A. administration,” he said.

Occupation follows ‘die-in’

‘Die-in’ protest last month in Tweedie Hall. Photo: Divest MTA

Last month, more than 40 Mt. A. students conducted a “die-in” protest in Tweedie Hall where the Board of Regents was holding its regular meeting. The students lay down on the floor, feigning death to represent the victims of oil and gas exploitation. The protest ended the Regents’ meeting, but did not result in a promise to move toward disinvestment in fossil fuels as the students had hoped.

Members of Divest MTA say this latest occupation is designed to step up the pressure for divestment.

“I think it’s important that students express that they’re angry and they’re upset and they’re frustrated with the administration, with the university for not listening,” Claire Henderson-Hamilton said when asked why she’s participating in the occupation.

“It’s been a long time now that Divest has been speaking out about this issue and it seems as though it’s gone unnoticed by the administration.”

Note: Warktimes asked the university for its comments on the occupation, but so far no one has responded to our request.

UPDATE: At 6:59 p.m. the university issued this statement about the occupation:

“The students have not provided us with any specific demands related to their activities today, however we understand their goal is for the University to completely divest of investments in fossil fuels. For the past year there has been an active process on campus, including representatives of MtA, to review responsible investing and recommend a range of additional initiatives.”

2 Responses to Mt. A. students occupy campus quad calling on university to shed investments in fossil fuels

I have two questions for the students *occupying* Mount A campus and I am not an expert on this matter: (1). Don’t you think that creating or sustaining jobs would serve to help all youth, including our Aboriginal youth? And (2). What is the realistic alternative thus far?